ORATION 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  REUNION  OF  T1IE 


Army  of  the  Cumberland 


COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


September  l<j.  1874 


Polonel  ^Stanley  ^Matthews 


01  NO INN  ATI 

HO B E RT  CLARKE  & COM  PAN  V 
1S75 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/orationdeliveredOOmatt 


ORATION 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  REUNION  OF  THE 

Army  of  the  Cumberland 


COLUMBUS,  OHIO 


September  16,  1874 


POLONEL 


pTANLEY  JA  A TT  H E WS 


CINCINNATI 

ROBERT  CLARKE  & COMPANY 
1875 


k:  ^ A 

1 — >cXa A 


O RATI  O N. 


Comrades  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland : 

The  social  character  of  our  reunions  is  their  characteris- 
tic feature.  Such  meetings  are  the  product  and  gratification 
of  our  nature  as  men,  finding  their  complete  development  as 
individuals  only  in  society.  It  is  not  in  man  to  pursue  the 
plan  of  his  life  an  isolated  and  solitary  atom.  He  can  not 
live  in  and  for  himself  alone.  He  can  realize  himself  truly 
and  fully  only  in  others.  He  is  hound  by  countless  ties  to 
all — all  now  living,  all  who  have  gone  before,  all  who  are 
to  come  after  him*  He  is  born  into  society — his  life  unfolds 
in  the  family,  in  the  State,  in  the  manifold  and  multiplied 
relations  to  others,  in  which,  from  time  to  time,  are  brought 
to  light  his  rights  and  his  duties,  his  cares  and  his  responsi- 
bilities, his  pleasnres  and  his  sorrows. 

Even  these,  grievous  and  painful  as  they  are,  when  their 
discipline  is  rightly  experienced,  come  to  be  but  light  affiie- 
tions,  when  shared  by  the  sympathies  of  friends  and  famil- 
iars, so  that  the  social  nature  transforms  common  regrets 
and  remembrances  of  mourning  and  of  pain  into  something 
festal. 

Thus  it  is,  that,  after  the  sharp  sense  of  individual  loss 
has  been  only  a little  dulled  by  time,  we  learn  to  celebrate 
with  song  and  speech  and  garlands,  and  the  music  of  many 
instruments,  and  bright  lights,  and  faces  unshadowed  by  any 


Army  of  the  Cumberland . 


2 

gloom,  tlie  joyous  recollections  of  even  our  dead , because  ue 
loved  them  while  they  lived,  with  love  returned ; because  we 
rejoice  to  recall,  with  vivid  likeness,  their  forms,  their  faces, 
their  faculties;  because  they  still  live,  and  are  not  dead,  liv- 
ing in  the  lives  of  those  for  whom  they  died,  and  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  knew  and  loved  them ; because  they 
rest  and  sleep,  and  shall  revive  in  the  hope  of  the  reward 
of  the  promise  of  Him  who  is  life  itself,  that  they  who  lose 
their  lives  for  His  sake  shall  find  them. 

We  are  able,  therefore,  to  reconcile  the  tenderest  regard 
for  our  dead  heroes  and  companions  with  all  the  rational, 
associated  enjoyments  of  this  occasion.  It  is  no  unwelcome 
intrusion  upon  its  festivities  to  salute  them,  as  in  silent  pro- 
cession they  enter  and  march  to  their  accustomed  places  i li- 
the parade.  If  they  do  not  answer  at  orderly’s  call,  their 
names  are,  nevertheless,  imperishably  inscribed  on  the  grand 
roll  of  honor,  and  borne  upon  our  reports,  if  uot  present,  as 
accounted  for. 

We  have  met  as  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land. The  bond  of  our  union  is  our  companionship  in  arms. 
The  themes  naturally  suggested  by  the  occasion  are  those 
connected  with  the  participation  of  that  army — one  of  the 
grand  divisions  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Union — in  the 
civil  war  of  1861,  the  civil  war  of  secession ; which,  whether 
you  consider  the  numbers  engaged,  the  earnestness  of  its 
prosecution  on  both  sides,  the  nature  of  the  principles  for 
the  sake  of  which  it  was  waged,  the  greatness  and  value  of  the 
stakes  at  issue,  and  the  far-reaching  consequences  of  success 
and  defeat,  is  no  doubt  the  most  memorable  in  history.  Its 
greatness  magnifies  all  who  bore  any  part  in  it,  however  in- 
considerable and  unimportant.  Hone  of  its  events  can  be 
esteemed  trivial ; for  no  one  can  say  how  the  omission  of  the 
least  might  have  affected  all  the  sequence.  It  would  not, 
then,  be  out  of  place  to  recite  our  own  exploits ; we  have 


Matthews'  Oration. 


3 


the  right  to  take  pride  in  them.  But  that  theme  is  trite. 
The  ground  has  already  been  covered.  The  public  history  of 
our  army  is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  this  generation. 

Its  successful  Generals,  still  lining,  have,  by  the  general 
voice  of  the  people,  received  recognition  and  reward.  To 
eulogize  them  would  be  impertinent.  Those  who  died  upon 
the  field,  or  who  have  since  succumbed  to  disease,  need  no 
praise.  To  remember  them  is  to  praise  them,  and  the}'  will 
not  be  forgotten. 

Those  not  so  successful,  to  whom  their  contemporaries 
have  been  less  than  just — and  there  are  such — will  have  to 
wait.  They  can  afford  to  do  it.  Time  will  bring  in  justice 
when  better  knowledge  and  a calmer -mind  will  disperse  cal- 
umnies, clear  up  misconceptions,  establish  truth,  vindicate 
character,  and  I’estore  the  luster  of  reputations  tarnished  by 
the  breath  of  ignorant  suspicion. 

But  who  shall  be  the  historian  of  the  nameless  heroes — 
the  undistinguished  privates — the  rank  and  file?  Who  shall 
recount  and  record  their  constancy  and  courage,  which  gave 
the  victory — their  toils,  endurance,  and  sacrifices,  that  made 
the  bitterness  of  defeat?  What  a satire  is  history  that  re- 
verses the  divine  law  of  vicarious  sacrifice,  whereby  one  dies 
for  many,  in  order  that  many  may  die  for  one ! 

There  is,  of  course,  homage  due  to  the  genius  of  success- 
ful command,  that  fitly  shows  itself  in  the  rewards  bestowed 
by  the  popular  applause,  and  the  fame  which  history  awards ; 
and  yet,  who  that  knows  the  heroism  of  the  unheralded  mul- 
titude, whose  sufferings  and  sacrifices  build  the  monument  of 
military  glory,  can  pass  the  halting  veteran  without  a salute 
of  reverence  ? 

I stood  lately  in  the  beautiful  Memorial  Hall  of  Cam- 
bridge, the  offering  of  Harvard  graduates  to  the  memory  of 
their  fellows  who  died  in  the  service  of  their  country,  in  the 
Civil  War.  Their  names  are  carved  in  marble,  and  inscribed 


4 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


on  tablets  round  its  walls,  without  reference  to  rank,  or  title, 
or  nativity — a grateful  tribute  from  learning  and  culture  to 
that  piety  which  we  call  patriotism. 

It  suggests  the  thought,  that  the  archives  of  our  Society 
and  its  sister  societies  might  be  the  repository  of  memorials 
more  valuable  than  this,  gathering  from  thousands  of  sources 
contributions  to  the  unwritten  history  of  the  army  and  the 
war,  now  lying  unknow.ii,  and  soon  to  be  lost  in  the  diaries 
or  recollections  of  individual  officers  and  soldiers.  Many 
an  incident,  even  of  military  importance  and  interest,  has 
escaped  the  official  report;  while  abundant  material,  illus- 
trative of  the  spirit  and  manuers  of  the  time,  of  individual 
prowess  and  character,  might  thus  be  preserved  to  history. 
To  add  such  a feature  to  the  constitution  and  practical  work- 
ings of  our  military  associations,  would  give  to  them  a perma- 
nent office  in  the  public  service,  and  insure  their  endurance, 
outlasting  the  social  impulses  from  which  they  first  sprung. 

It  may,  however,  be  ivell  to  question  ourselves — better 
than  to  have  the  question  raised  by  others — whether  v e do 
not,  in  our  thoughts  and  speeches,  give  undue  prominence 
and  credit  to  the  mere  military  displays  and  agencies  that 
wrought  in  the  progress  and  result  of  the  war? 

Of  course,  being  war,  it  had  to  be  decided  by  battles; 
physical  force  was  the  actual  and  final  arbiter  of  the  dread  dis- 
pute ; but,  to  say  nothing  of  the  moral  and  political  forces  that 
wielded  the  giant  weapons  of  attack  and  defense,  there  was 
an  immense  reserve  of  power,  both  physical  and  moral,  lying 
behind  the  lines  of  actual  conflict,  out  of  which  everything 
came,  and  upon  which  everything  depended. 

This  was  the  people,  aroused  and  organized  for  war — not 
merely  through  their  political  government,  which  carried 
on  the  technical  operations  of  the  contest,  but  through 
every  agency  and  instrument  by  which  they  could  influence 


Matthews’  Oration. 


5 


its  result.  It  was,  as  the  eloquent  Frenchman,  Gasparin, 
named  it,  “ the  uprising  of  a great  people.” 

Wai’s  made  by  governments  in  the  interest  of  a dynasty 
or  a policy,  and  carried  on  by  means  of  standing  armies,  the 
world  had  grown  familiar  with  and  weary  of,  till  lovers  of 
their  kind  wondered  how  war  could  be  justified  at  all.  But 
ours  was  different.  As  President  Lincoln  said  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, “ it  was  a war  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people.” 

It  was  a rally  of  all  the  members  of  society,  for  the 
preservation  of  society  itself.  It  was  not  merely  a defense  of 
the  particular  government  attacked:  it  teas  a defense  of  the 
principle  of  all  government ; for  the  right  of  a legally  estab- 
lished government  to  maintain  its  own  existence  was  chal- 
lenged and  denied.  When  the  danger  was  understood  and 
measured,  it  was  found  to  be  the  peril  of  anarchy , and  the 
whole  community,  with  a single  will  and  the  terrific  energy 
of  a convulsion,  as  of  a man  in  a final  struggle  for  life, 
straining  every  fiber  of  its  frame,  rushed  to  the  encounter. 

To  every  man  the  question  was  put,  whether  he  should 
continue  to  have  a country  or  give  it  up ; for,  although  what- 
ever the  result  might  have  been,  new  allegiances  would 
doubtless  have  sprung  up,  yet  the  old  one,  with  all  its  tradi- 
tions and  associations,  would  have  been  annihilated,  and  to 
us  and  our  people  the  old  one  was  the  only  one  possible. 

Iu  consequence,  the  whole  social  organization  was  turned 
from  peace  to  war.  To  re-establish  the  constitution  and  en- 
force obedience  to  the  laws,  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the 
nation  and  vindicate  its  authority  at  every  cost,  was  the  su- 
preme and  all-pervading  passion.  In  the  wrathful  furnace  of 
its  anger,  seven  times  heated,  all  petty  things  were  burned 
into  impalpable  ashes — all  the  hard  and  heterogeneous  ele- 
ments of  class  or  individual  divisions  were  fused  into  a hot 


6 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


and  flowing  mass,  devouring  and  consuming  whatever  refused 
to  take  on  its  color  and  consistence. 

To  wage  the  war  to  a successful  end  was  the  only  busi- 
ness by  day,  the  onl}T  anxiety  at  night.  It  filled  the  hearts 
of  man,  woman,  and  child.  Every  agency  and  influence  were 
impressed  into  its  service.  Many  a man  went  into  the  army' 
believing  that  it  were  better  for  him  to  die,  if  thereby  he 
might  help  to  win  the  victory,  than,  outliving  his  country,  to 
bury  the  hopes  of  his  children  in  its  grave. 

The  same  spirit  inspired. the  platform,  the  press,  and  the 
pulpit.  All  who  did  not  share  it  were  strangers  and  aliens. 
If  any  openly  opposed  it,  they  became  outlaws  and  traitors. 

The  logic  of  the  occasion  was  simple.  Those  who  were 
trying  to  pull  down  the  house  should  not  shelter  themselves 
in  it.  Those  who  abetted  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution 
should  not  claim  its  protection.  The  wh.ole  country  was  a 
military  camp.  The  population  was  divided  into  two  classes — 
the  army,  and  its  purveyors.  The  nation  was  practically 
unanimous. 

The  open  dissent  that  expressed  itself  in  party  organiza- 
tions, and  within  the  hounds  of  toleration,  confined  itself  to 
criticism  upon  administration,  and  did  not  dare  to  advocate 
dismemberment.  Its  avowals  were  made  broad  enough  to 
insure  defeat,  in  order  that  it  might  escape  the  responsibility 
of  success ; and  thus  its  opposition  only  served  to  emphasize 
the  popular  determination  to  preserve  the  Union. 

It  was  not  a question  of  politics.  Party  adhesions  melted 
like  wax  in  the  flame  of  patriotic  fervor.  It  was  a matter  of 
social  duty.  It  involved  everything  that  was  dear  to  men,  of 
individual  or  public  interest.  The  moral  element  of  obliga- 
tion predominated,  laid  its  high  commands  on  every  con- 
science, ratified  and  sanctified  by  the  spirit  of  religion.  The 
Church  and  State  found  their  true  point  of  contact,  and'men 
and  ministers  fought  and  prayed  together  for  civilization  and 


Matthews’  Oration. 


7 


Christianity  identified  with  country.  "Women  found  a fit 
sphere  for  their  activities,  awarded  to  them,  without  misgiv- 
ings, where  they  were  received  with  reverential  regard.  They 
ministered  as  angels  in  the  hospital,  at  the  sick-bed,  to  the 
suffering  and  dying — mothers,  wives,  sisters,  daughters.  All 
classes-  and  conditions  were  bound  together  by  common  sym- 
pathies. 

The  faith  of  the  people  was  never  shaken.  It  was  their 
courage  and  constancy  that  gave  firmness  and  consistency  to 
the  plans  of  the  Cabinet;  upheld  the  hands  of  the  Government 
at  home  and  abroad  ; cheered  the  heart  of  the  President,  bur- 
dened with  the  weight  of  his  great  anxiety ; fed  the  ceaseless 
energy  of  the  great  "War  Secretary,  as  by  day  and  by  night  it 
sent  streams  of  activity  through  eveVy  vein  and  artery  of  the 
mighty  organization;  supplied  the  resources  of  credit  by 
which  the  Treasury,  though  long  since  emptied,  was  kept 
ever  full;  gave  assurance  to  the  buoyant' hopes  of  our  san- 
guine diplomacy,  by  which  the  fears  and  jealousies  of  foreign 
powers  were  restrained  from  mischievous  intermeddling;  sus- 
tained our  arms  in  weariness  and  defeat,  and  crowned  them 
at  last  with  the  well-earned  triumph  of  final,  complete,  and 
overwhelming  victory ! 

This  unanimous  enthusiasm  was  not  factitious  nor  ignorant. 
The  people  were  not  deceived  by  a false  clamor,  nor  led,  as  an 
unthinking  multitude,  by  the  instinct  of  following. 

Their  previous  political  education  and  the  habits  of  a free 
and  intelligent  people  had  instructed  them  in  the  merits  of 
the  great  controversy.  They  fully  understood  the  whole  field 
of  dispute,  and  deliberately  and -firmly  took  their  ground. 
They  fathomed  the  political  philosophy  of  the  secession 
school,  abstruse  and  technical  as  its  doctrine  was.  The  in- 
stinct against  its  disintegrating  tendency  had  been  years  be- 
fore- embodied  in  the  strong  common  sense  of  Jackson’s 
proclamation ; the  original  poison  insinuated  by  Jefferson 


8 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


into  the  artful  dogmas  of  ’98,  if  not  eliminated,  had  been 
localized,  and  when  the  virus  reappeared,  having  been  car- 
ried wherever  the  weakness  and  taint  of  slavery  existed,  it 
was  recognized  again.  Seeking  its  success  in  secession,  re- 
bellion, and  revolution,  because  the  reason  and  conscience  of 
the  nation  had  pronounced  against  it,  the  people  understood 
it,  accepted  its  challenge  to  mortal  combat,  and  decreed 
its  end. 

It  was  this  thorough  comprehension,  by  the  popular 
mind,  of  the  questions  at  issue  that  gave  such  earnestness  to 
their  purpose  in  prosecuting  them  to  an  ultimate  settlement, 
and  the  intelligence  with  which  the  decision  was  finally  made 
is  the  sure  guaranty  that  it  will  never  be  appealed  from  nor 
reversed.  It  was  one  of’ those  verdicts  so  conclusive  that  it 
not  only  quieted  the  adversary,  but  convinced  him. 

The  war  was  not  only  the  people's  roar — it  was  a just  \oar. 

This  might  he  inferred  from  the  unanimity,  enthusiasm, 
intelligence,  and  success  with  which  it  was  prosecuted  and 
ended.  All  these  elements  do  not  often  combine  in  support 
of  a bad  cause.  The  general  course  of  God’s  providence,  in 
the  moral  government  of  the  world,  would  lead  us  to  believe 
their  concurrence  evidence  of  a good  cause.  But  this  pre- 
sumption, upon  reflection,  emerges  from  the  region  of  doubt- 
ful inference,  and  ripens  into  assured  conviction. 

The  seceding  States  had  no  just  cause  of  complaint — 
much  less  one  justifying  separation — against  either  the  Gen- 
eral Government  or  the  people  of  their  sister  States. 

The  cause  of  final  offense  was  the  success  of  a political 
party,  in  a Presidential  election,  pledged  to  limit  the  exten- 
sion of  negro  slavery. 

But  that  policy  was  not  new — it  was  the  policy  of  the 

statesmen  of  the  Revolution.  It  was  not  unconstitutional. 

• 

Back  of  that  was  the  original  siu  of  attacking  the  insti- 


Matthews’  Oration. 


9 


tutiou  of  slavery,  where  it  lawfully  existed,  and  seeking’  its 
abolition. 

But  that  had  been  done  in  no  unconstitutional  way. 
The  only  weapon  used  was  public  opinion,  enlightened  by 
discussion  and  moved  by  the  moral  sense  of  the  age.  The 
institution  was  doomed,  because  it  was  condemned  by  the 
Christianity  and  civilization  of  the  country.  But  the  Gov- 
ernment whose  overthrow  was  sought  had  never  offended ; it 
had  not,  in  any  instance,  failed  in  its  constitutional  duty. 

The  attack  was  made  upon  that  Government.  South 
Carolina  endeavored  by  military  force  to  drive  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  out  of  its  jurisdiction,  as  being  inde- 
pendent and  foreign ; and  Fort  Sumter  fell. 

It  was  said  by  the  administration  of  that  day  that  there 
was  no  power  Conferred  by  the  Constitution  upon  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  to  coerce  a State  ; as  if  to  de- 
fend its  own  rightful  existence  by  lawful  force  was  the 
coercion  of  any  person  or  thing. 

But  the  proposition  was  not  even  formally  true.  The 
United  States  are  required,  to  guarantee  to  every  State  a re- 
publican form  of  government  in  the  Union;  a guaranty,  the 
execution  of  which  might  require  the  use  of  force,  which 
would  be  coercion.  And  that  guaranty,  so  enforced,  extends 
to  coercion,  required  to  preserve  their  relation  to  the  Union; 
for  if  secession  can  not  be  met  with  force,  the  guaranty  is 
without  sane  don.  If  the  proposition  were  formally  true,  it 
is  nevertheless  undeniable  that  it  was  untrue  in  substance ; 
for,  even  if  the  Government  had  no  authority  to  coerce  a 
State,  it  has  the  right  to  coerce  all  the  individuals  that  com- 
pose it.  The  Constitution,  treaties,  and  laws,  made  in  pur- 
suance thereof,  are  paramount.  They  are  the  law  in  every 
State,  any  law  of  the  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
And  the  Government  is  invested  with  express  power  to  en- 
force obedience  to  all  its  laws.  Nothing — not  even  a State — 


10 


Army  of  the  Cumberland . 


can  lawfully  and  effectually  stand  between  it  and  its  own 
constituents. 

On  its  own  doctrine  secession  was  'punishable  by  war. 

If  the  Constitution,  instead  of  being  the  frame  of  a gov- 
ernment, had  been  merely  a league  between  co-equal  and  sov- 
ereign States,  it  had,  still,  the  dignity  of  a treaty,  and  was 
perpetual  according  to  its  terms.  To  dissolve  it  required  the 
same  mutual  consent  that  created  it.  If  either,  in  case  of 
its  infraction  by  the  others,  had  the  sovereign  right  of  de- 
ciding on  the  fact  of  a breach,  the  interpretation  which 
• demonstrated  it,  and  the  nature  of  the  remedy,  and  thus  of 
declaring  it  no  longer  to  be  binding,  the  converse  right  be- 
longed to  all  the  rest;  and  there  being,  by  the.  supposition, 
no  common  superior,  each  had  the  equal  right  to  enforce  its 
own  views.  Superior  force  alone  was  adequate  to  settle  the 
controversy,  and  thus  war,  as  the  ultima  ratio , became  the 
necessary  resort.  In  that  case  it  would  simply  change  its 
aspect,  and  become,  instead  of  a rebellion, against  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  a war  for  disunion  among  the 
States  themselves.  Certainly,  if  one  or  more  States  had  the 
right  to  make  it,  the  rest  had  an  equal  right,  there  being  no 
judge  between  them,  to  resent  and  resist  it. 

But  the  justice  of  the  war  in  defense  of  the  American 
Union  is  not  to  be  adjudged  as  you  would  try  a title  ill  a 
court  of  justice.  Legal  rights  are  not  the  measure  of  moral 
rights.  The  people  of  the  United  States  were  a nation  irre- 
spective of  constitutional  bonds,  and  had  a destiny  to  fulfill 
in  behalf  of  human  progress  and  the  welfare  of  mankind  that 
they  could  not  disappoint  without  becoming  themselves  guilty 
of  treason  to  the  race. 

A necessity  was  laid  upon  them — T know  that  has  too 
often  been  the  tyrant’s  plea — a moral  and  physical  necessity 
in  the  interest  of  humanity,  making  upon  this  western  con- 
tinent its  great  experiment  of  republican  government,  and 


Matthew s’  Oration. 


11 


for  the  sake  of  all  the  interests  of  peaceful  culture  and  pro- 
gressive civilization  implied  in  its  success  to  perpetuate  that 
union,  without  which  there  could  be  no  greatness  and  no 
peace. 

The  hopes  of  lovers  of  free  self-government  the  world 
over  were  bound  up  in  our  success,  and  their  good  wishes 
and  sympathies  were  with  us,  throughout ; governments 
whose  diplomacy  had  always  been  friendly,  but  who  feared 
the  example  of  a successful  republic,  secretly  desired  our 
defeat,  and,  when  they  safely  could,  plotted  for  it. 

The  successful  establishment  of  the  Southern  Confed- . 
eracy — so  far  as  human  speculation  can  penetrate  a hypothet- 
ical future — meant  complete  disintegration,  and  the  rivalries 
and  wars  of  petty  States,  or  a reconstruction  of  a new  Union 
in  which  the  principle  of  personal  freedom  should  be  subor- 
dinated to  the  necessities  of  an  empire  founded  expressly  for 
the  perpetuation  of  negro  slavery.  That  meant,  in  its  turn, 
of  course,  simply  a new  rebellion  in  favor  of  human  liberty. 
Hence,  unless  all  history  be  a lie,  and  if  anything  certain  can 
be  predicated  of  our  knowledge  of  human  nature,  the  war, 

sooner  or  later,  was  inevitable. 

♦ 

Xo  political  aphorism  was  ever  more  pregnant  with  sig- 
nificant truth  than  the  saying  of  Mr.  Seward,  that  there  was 
an  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  political  and  social  forces 
arrayed  as  friends  and  foes  of  the  institution  of  negro  slavery  ; 
and  no  prediction  of  uninspired  history  was  so  closely  fol- 
lowed by  its  fulfillment,  as  that  uttered  by  Mr.  Lixcoi.m,  based 
on  the  same  sentiment — that  these  States  could  not  long  re- 
main half  slave  and  half  free  ; they  must,  sooner  or  later,  be 
all  slave  or  all  free. 

The  political  leaders  of  the  Southern  States  were  entirely 
right  in  regarding  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  1860,  as 
the  doom  of  slavery.  ' Xo  unconstitutional  attack  was  either 
expressed  or  implied,  indeed,  in  that’event;  but  the  posses- 


12 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


sion  of  the  Federal  Government  by  a sentiment  friendly  to 
the  institution  had  secured  for  it  a shield  and  defense  against, 
not  onl}'  hostile  action,  hut  hostile  opinion.  Xow,  the  guns 
of  their  fortress  were  reversed  and  turned  upon  its  garrison, 
and  the  practice  of  slaveholdiug  and  the  political  organiza- 
tion framed  for  its  defense  and  perpetuation  were  uncovered 
to  the  scorn  and  hatred  of  the  civilized  world. 

If  those  leaders  had  been  statesmen,  with  sagacity  to 
read  aright  the  lessons  of  their  time,  they  would  have  pre- 
pared a peaceful  Avay  to  the  inevitable  result,  and  set  their 
house  in  order  for  the  advent  of  its  new  master;  hut  to  this 
height  they  could  not  rise.  It  was  too  much,  no  doubt,  to 
expect  from  human  nature.  They  refused  to  accept  what 
they  could  not  avert ; chose  to  end  their  suspense  by  precipi- 
tating what  might  have  been  postponed,  and  sought,  by  a 
coup  d’etat,  to  forestall  the  action  of  forces,  the  nature  of 
which  they  could  not  comprehend — the  existence  of  which 
they  feared,  but  aft'ected  not  to  believe.  They  deceived  none 
hut  themselves,  and  became,  in  their  rage  and  folly,  the  min- 
isters of  their  own  fate. 

By  saddling  human  nature  itself  with  all  responsibility 
for  the  catastrophe,  we  modify  and  soften  our  judgments  of 
individuals.  We  are  forced  to  admit  that  the  evil  institution 
which  blinded  and  destroyed  them  was  one  for  the  origin  of 
which  neither  they  nor  our  common  forefathers  were  alto- 
gether and  solely  accountable ; and  that  the  shame  and 
wrong  of  its  continuance  was  the  misfortune  of  the  whole 
nation,  and  not  merely  of  a section;  and  when  they  were 
hurried  into  a revolution  in  the  vain  hope  of  preserving  it, 
it  was  not  so  much  the  will  of  individuals  as  the  work  of 
instincts  and  impulses  that,  in  the  existing  condition  of 
things,  were  irresistible. 

It  was  in  the  general  spirit  of  this  apology  that  the  war 
was  waged  on  behalf  of  the  Union.  Civil  wars,  more  than 


Matthews’  Oration. 


13 


others,  evoke  the  bitterness  of  partisan  hates  and  the  savage 
fierceness  of  individual  passions.  And  nothing’  less  is  to  be 
expected  of  the  party  whose  territory  is  the  subject  of  inva- 
sion, whose  homes  are  desolated,  whose  fields  are  wasted 
and  property  destroyed.  But  it  is  due  to  truth  to  say  that 
the  spirit  of  the  people  who  maintained  the  cause  of  the 
Union  was  not  malevolent.  They  could  not  look  even  upon 
their  adversaries  so  -much  as  enemies  to  be  destroyed,  as 
estranged  brethren  to  be  disarmed  and  won  again  to  frater- 
nity. War,  of  course,  in  its  best  phase,  is  a cruel  thing,  and 
the  shortest  road  to  peace  is  to  make  it  felt  most  severely. 
But,  in  the  act  of  applying  its  discipline,  the  people  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  never  forgot  the  ties  that 
bound  them  to  those  arrayed  against  them  ; never  cherished 
anything  like  a desire  of  revenge;  continually  hoped  for 
peace  without  more  shedding  of  blood  ; asked  for  no  indem- 
nity but  the  removal  of  the  cause  of  war ; insisted  on  no 
terms  but  submission  to  a common  government.  There  was 
no  conquest,  no  subjugation.  Xo  provinces  were  torn  from 
their  chosen  allegiance;  no  forced  levies  or  extorted  indem- 
nities were  exacted  to  pay  the  cost  of  peace.  There  was  not 
a single  military  or  civil  execution  for  treason,  and  now 
every  offense  has  been  buried  in  the  oblivion  of  a universal 
amnesty. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  from  its  beginning  to 
the  end,  and  throughout  the  whole  period  since  elapsed, 
there  has  not  been  a time  when  it  was  not  the  sincere  desire 
of  the  people  of  the  Xortli  that  the  Southern  States  should 
share  in  their  prosperity,  and  recovering  from  the  loss  and 
waste  of  war,  and  the  confusion,  anarchy,  and  bad  govern- 
ment, which  were  its  necessary,  but  temporary  consequences, 
reach  a standard  of  wealth,  security,  and  happiness  which 
they  had  never  before  attained.  Such,  I am  sure,  is  the  pre- 
vailing and  general  feeling  to-day ! 


A rmy  of  the  Cumberland ' . 


16 


And  it  is  our  exceeding  great  reward  that,  in  point  of 
fact,  the  Southern  States  have  not  only  not  been  losers  by 
the  war,  but,  all  things  considered,  have  made  a great  gain. 
Of  course,  in  such  an  estimate,  no  calculation  is  made  of  the 
loss  of  life  on  the  battle-field,  in  the  hospital,  in  the  prison, 
from  wounds  and  exposure.  The  melancholy  accounts  on 
both  sides  must  be  taken  as  equivalents,  for  which  no  com- 
pensation can  be  asked  or  made.  Outside  of  that,  the  losses 
of  property,  the  millions  represented  by  slaves  alone,  the 
waste  of  war,  the  disorganization  of  labor,  and  depreciation 
of  all  money  values  of  every  species  of  property,  must  have 
their  due  allowance  made.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  all  is  more  than  made  up  by  the  abolition  of 
slavery. 

The  waste  of  war  is  repaired  by  the  arts  of  peace  in  an 
incredibly  short  time.  The  gain  which  results  from  free 
labor  has  scarcely  begun  to  manifest  itself,  and  will  increase 
in  geometrical  ratios  as  long  as  there  is  room  for  prosperity 
to  grow.  There  is,  perhaps,  not  an  intelligent  and  conscien- 
tious citizen  of  the  South  to-day  that  would  restore  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  if  he  could;  that  does  not  believe  that  the 
true  prosperity  of  his  section  began  with  the  day  that  made 
all  its  laborers  free.  Usually  and  naturally,  the  feuds  and 
grudges  of  civil  strife  are  handed  down  from  father  to  sou, 
and  become  perpetuated  in  national  tradition.  In  the  Old 
AVorld  history,  we  see  traces  of  them  appearing  here  and 
there,  as  rocks  broken  through  the  surface  of  the  earth 
record  the  struggles  of  intestine  elemental  strife;  as  to-day 
the  battle  of  the  Boyne  is  most  vividly  remembered  as  the 
anniversary  of  the  hate  between  the  Orange  and  the  Green. 

Not  so,  we  believe,  will  it  be  with  our  civil  war.  Its 
benefits  and  blessings  are  mutually  shared  by  both  parties  to 
the  contest,  so  that  they  whose  cause  was  lost  already  per- 
ceive that  our  victories  were  their  blessings.  The  time  is  not 


Matthews’  Oration. 


15 


distant,  is  near  at  hand,  when,  realizing  more  and  more  per- 
fectly the  fruits  borne  to  them  by  their  defeat,  the  people  of 
the  South,  white  and  black,  equally  emancipated  from  the 
evils  of  a system  fatal  alike  to  both,  will  join  with  us,  heartily 
and  sincerely,  in  celebrating  the  victories  of  the  Union  arms, 
as  the  common  heritage  of  our  national  honor,  glory,  and 
salvation. 

Emancipation  was  the  logic  of  the  war.  Without  that 
the  struggle  would  have  been  a sorry  failure,  without  signifi- 
cance in  the  present,  without  promise  to  the  future.  With  it 
peace  was' the  beginning  of  a new  order,  confirmed  by  a con- 
stitutional prohibition,  which  abolished  all  sectional  divisions, 
and  brought  for  the  first  time  our  national  professions  and 
practice  into  unison.  The  national  spirit  was  consolidated. 
We  had  learned  how  union  had  come  to  mean  unity,  and  jus- 
tice had  been  made  the  equal  law  of  national  citizenship. 
As  citizenship  followed  freedom,  so  the  electoral  franchise 
was  logically  essential  to  citizenship;  and,  to  secure  all,  the 
constitution,  by  its  final  amendment,  made  the  General  Gov- 
ernment the  guardian  of  its  new  constituency,  so  far  at  least 
as  to  correct  all  attempted  discriminations  of  local  legislation. 

The  duty  of  conferring  the  right  of  suffrage  upon  the 
newly  made  citizen  seemed  plain  and  imperative,  notwith- 
standing its  perils;  but  its  wisdom,  of  course,  could  not  be 
justified  on  the  ground  that  he  was  likely  at  once  to  use  it 
wisely.  This  was  not  to  be  expected  in  any  case,  for  its  na- 
ture, as  an  instrument  of  government,  is  such  that  its  wise 
use  conies  from  the  experience  of  its  actual  use. 

There  is  a double  error  in  o.ur  American  theory  of  rep- 
resentative government — that  'perfect  institutions  secure  perfect 
administration , and  that  the  simple  rule  of  the  majority , where 
the  franchise  of  voting  and  holding  office  is  shared  equally  by 
all,  is  the  perfection  of  popular  institutions. 

There  was  never  contrived,  perhaps,  a better  mode  for 


1G 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


the  peaceful  adjusting  of  disputed  questions  of  public  and 
private  rights  than  that  provided  for  preserving  harmony  be- 
tween the  States  of  this  Union  through  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment; and  yet  that  that  failed  in  the  moment  of  its  great- 
trial,  the  civil  war  of  1861  is  the  melancholy  proof;  and  that 
universal  suffrage  and  universal  candidacy  to  office  is  not  the 
panacea  for  perfect  administration,  the  condition  and  history 
of  the  reconstructed  States  abundantly  show. 

The  remedy  for  the  admitted  evils  resulting  from  the 
introduction  into  the  body  politic  suddenly  of  so  large  a pro- 
portion of  ignorant  electors,  is  not,  it  may  be  affirmed  with 
certainty,  to  seek  to  deprive  them  of  the  franchise  now  se- 
cured to  them  by  constitutional  guaranties. 

That  would  be  unjust  and  impossible.  To  the  extent  of 
protecting  them  in  their  equal  rights  as  citizens,  the  faith  of 
the  Nation  is  pledged  ; and  that  faith,  made  sacred  by  the 
blood  and  treasure  spent  in  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  will 
be  redeemed  at  every  additional  cost. 

Neither  will  it  promote  relief,  while  not  openly  seeking 
that  end,  to  approximate  it  indirectly,  by  a system  of  intimida- 
tion and  outbreaks  of  violence,  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  a 
state  of  subserviency  to  those  who  claim  to  be  the  rightful 
ruling  class. 

Terrorism  is  not  a safe  instrument  in  popular  govern- 
ments, and  can  not  be  a permanent  one.  In  this  matter  the 
white  citizens  of  the  South  have  yet  much  to  learn — quite  as 
much,  perhaps,  as  those  whose  ignorance  they  assume  to  be 
the  cause  of  all  their  troubles.  A small  class  among  them  fill 
the  country  with  reports  of  their  cold-blooded  and  unprovoked 
murders,  perpetrated  in  most  cases  upon  unoffending  blacks,  out 
of  mere  wantouness,  rage,  and  class  hatred.  The  existence  and 
crimes  of  this  class  are  attributable  to  the  apathy  and  want  of 
public  spirit  in  the  mass  of  the  intelligent,  refined,  and  respecta- 
ble whites.  It  would  be  doing  them  too  great  injustice  to  sup- 


Matthews’  Oration. 


17 


pose  that  they  could  sanction  such  horrors.  And  yet  it  is 
their  indifference  which  really  makes  them  possible,  and 
brings  upon  the  whole  community,  where  rests  the  responsi- 
bility, the  consequences  of  the  crimes  of  a reckless  few. 

It  is  in  the  power  of  the  real  statesmen  of  the  South — 
the  statesmen  of  the  old  school — and  the  generation  of  them 
is  not  extinct — the  wise  and  able  and  good  men  there,  who 
have  a stake  in  society,  to  restore  social  order  and  bring  in 
honest  and  intelligent  government  in  their  several  States.  It 
is  by  simply  coming  forward  and  claiming  the  place  and  in- 
fluence in  public  affairs  which  legitimately  belong  to  their 
superior  qualifications.  It  is  by  making  friends  and  allies  of 
the  new  voters,  instead  of  treating  them  as  enemies  and  aliens. 
It  is  by  learning  to  lead  and  forgetting  to  drive.  Hone  are  so 
well,  versed  as  they  in  the  tact  and  arts  of  politics  ; and  than 
this,  there  is  no  field  for  the  exertion  of  talent  and  industry 
where  harvest  more  surely  follows  seed-time. 

It  will  be  no  difficult  matter  to  establish  relations  of  con- 
fidence between  themselves  and  the  freedmen,  and  heal  the 
schism  in  society  which  now  threatens  its  existence.  The  col- 
ored voter,  whatever  qualifications  he  lacks  for  the  exercise 
of  his  franchises,  will  not  he  slow  to  reward  those  who  prove 
themselves  to  be  his  real  friends  ; and  docility,  amiability, 
and  imitativeness  are  his  characteristics.  If  his  vanity  makes 
him  an  office-seeker,  it  is  at  least  not  a weakness  peculiar  to 
his  race,  but  an  instinct  which  demonstrates  him  to  be  both 
a man  and  an  American. 

The  task  set  for  Southern  society,  to  reorganize  itself, 
for  its  local  self-government,  with  a hearty  acceptance  of  the 
legitimate  consequences  of  the  war — the  responsibility  for 
which  rests  chiefly  upon  the  intelligent  whites — though,  as  I 
think,  perfectly  feasible,  is  yet  not  without  its  difficulties. 

Time  is  an  element  in  its  successful  achievement.  Pa- 
tience, forbearance,  disinterested  zeal  for  the  public  good,  an 


18 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


energy  that  does  not  flag,  a faith  that  will  not  faint,  the  res- 
olution of  an  invincible  will,  a warm-hearted  love  of  country, 
a broad  and  generous  love  of  man,  a deep  sense  of  duty,  com- 
bined, will  surely  work  it  out.  But  those  who  are  engaged 
in  it  are  entitled  to  our  sympathy  and  help. 

Indeed,  the  condition  of  the  South — political  and  social 
— is  a lesson  to  be  studied  by  the  whole  country.  Demagogues 
and  adventurers  prey  on  the  public,  here  as  well  as  there  ; and 
men,  the  most  unscrupulous  and  the  most  dangerous,  are  able, 
hy  lying  flatteries  of  the  people,  to  cheat  them  of  their  sufl'rages. 
The  problem  of  perfecting  the  machinery  of  popular  govern- 
ment has  not  yet  heen  thoroughly  solved  anywhere.  Of 
course,  the  chief  reliance  against  all  the  perils  of  democratic 
institutions  is  in  the  progress  and  spread  of  popular  intelli- 
gence, and  the  cultivation  of  popular  habits  of  reverence  for 
law,  and  love  of  that  virtue  which  is  the  fountain  and  foun- 
dation of  law. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  we  seek  to  inform  and  inspire 
the  political  franchises,  improvements  perhaps  may  be  intro- 
duced in  the  mode  of  their  exercise.  If  we  can  not  make 
Solons  of  the  mass,  we  can  secure  to  the  minority  such  repre- 
sentation and  influence  in  the  actual  governing  body  as  its 
numbers,  at  least,  justify — a result  required  by  the  theory  of 
governing  according  to  numbers,  and  thus  give  the  opportu- 
nity for  such  power  in  direction  as  is  due  to  its  intelligence.  So 
if  it  be  impracticable  or  inexpedient  to  limit  the  suffrage  by 
a qualification,  educational  or  otherwise,  still  we  may  secure 
its  better  and  wiser  exercise  by  limiting  the  number  of  in- 
stances in  which  it  is  called  into  exercise,  and  requiring,  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  chosen  to  positions  of  administration, 
satisfactory  evidence  of  their  skill  and  knowledge.  Minority 
representation,  reduction  in  the  number  of  officers  of  govern- 
ment chosen  by  popular  suffrage,  increased  permanence  in  the 
tenure  of  office,  and  a judicious  system  requiring  qualilica- 


Matthews’  Oration. 


19 


tions  for  the  civil  service,  applied  to  the  present  condition  of 
Southern  politics,  might,  it  is  submitted,  greatly  assist  in 
needed  reforms.  I venture  to  suggest  that  they  might  find 
useful  application  elsewhere. 

One  thing,  however,  our  Southern  brethren — for  such  I 
feel  them  to  he — ought  not  to  forget.  It  is  not  out  of  place 
here  to  remind  them  of  it.  Whatever  else  may  happen — 
whether  anything  suggested  here,  or  from  any  other  source, 
may  or  may  not  be  adopted,  and  found  adequate  or  not,  gov- 
ernment in  the  Southern  States,  in  the  true  sense  of  that  word, 
will  not  be  allowed  to  fail.  If  the  Southern  people  are  not  able, 
of  themselves,  to  maintain  social  order  and  peace  ; if  the  cit- 
izens of  the  United  States  can  not  there,  by  local  institutions 
and  laws,  be  protected  in  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness  ; if  the  State  governments  are  helpless  to 
administer  justice  and  preserve  peace — anarchy , otherwise  in-' 
evitable,  will  not  be  permitted  to  work  the  dissolution  of  so- 
ciety. Intervention,  in  any  emergency,  ab  extra,  is  to  be  dep- 
recated ; but,  in  such  a one,  not  to  be  avoided.  It  would  be 
a simple  necessity.  Any  government  is  better  than  none,  and 
a government  that,  with  impunity,  tolerates  the  habit  of  mur- 
der, does  not  deserve  the  name. 

But  it  is  also  a constitutional  duty.  The  bond  of  National 
Union  contains  a special  pledge  of  protection  to  the  enfran- 
chised slave.  The  right  of  suffrage  and  of  equal  participa- 
tion in  all  strictly  civil  and  political  rights  were  accorded  to 
him  as  a part  of  the  national  policy,  and  for  the  better  se- 
curity of  his  rights  of  person  and  property.  Ilis  offense,  for 
which  he  is  subjected  to  barbarities  which  shock  the  sense  of 
the  civilized  world,  consists  in  the  exercise  of  these  rights 
which  the  Uation  has  conferred  upon  him.  It  can  not  afford 
that  he  should  suffer  unavenged.  It  will  surely  interpose  the 
shield  of  its  protection. 

But  let  us,  on  our  part,  take  care  that  that  intervention 


20 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


proceeds  no  farther  than  the  necessity  demands,  and  does  not 
transcend  the  limits  of  constitutional  obligation.  Let  us 
avoid  all  irritating  legislation,  all  unnecessary  wounding  ot 
susceptibilities,  sore  with  disappointment,  or  inflamed  by 
prejudice.  We  have  done  our  whole  duty  when  we  have  es- 
tablished and  enforced,  in  favor  of  the  freedmen,  equality  of 
right  under  the  laio.  The  rest,  whatever  it  may  prove  to  he, 
he  must  do  for  himself.  We  confer  upon  him  his  personal 
freedom,  his  civil  rights,  his  political  liberty.  His  social 
position  must  he  the  result  of  social  forces,  with  which  Gov- 
ernment, neither  State  nor  National,  has  any  right  to  inter- 
fere. He  can  not  long  maintain  a usurped  position,  either 
in  private  or  public  life.  If  his  education  or  natural  abilities 
do  not  fit  him  for  the  place  of  leader  in  opinion  or  govern- 
ment, he  must  be  content  to  he  a follower.  The  very  glory 
and  beauty  of  free  government  are  that  each  one,  according 
to  his  natural  fitness,  may  freely  find  his  own  place ; that  in- 
telligence, wisdom,  and  virtue  may  he  the  governing  powers; 
that  society  may  always  command  the  best  senwice  for  the 
public  good.  Equality  prevails  only  in  the  order  of  right  ; in 
the  social  order,  wThere  the  bond  is  opinion  and  not  law,  the 
organization  of  mutual  service  is  a hierarchy  of  special 
adaptations,  in  which  it  is  more  honorable  to  fill  well  the  low- 
est place  than  greedily  to  seek  for  the  highest,  and  unworthily 
occupy  it. 

Wre  have  reviewed  the  past,  we  have  surveyed  the  pres- 
ent. What  has  the  future  in  store  for  the  Republic  ? 

According  to  the  scieuce  of  political  economy  in  the  ex- 
change of  material  values,  price  is  regulated  in  general  by 
reference  to  cost.  It  is  by  analogy  true  in  the  world  ot 
ideas. 

If  so,  the  worth  of  our  political  institutions,  our  noble 
frame  of  government,  our  sisterhood  of  free  and  equal 
States,  the  commonwealth  of  our  Union,, with  its  Government 


Mattheivs’  Oration. 


21 


for  the  whole,  is  to  he  measured  by  the  toils,  privations,  and 
sacrifices  of  the  wonderful  generation  by  whose  wisdom  it 
was  founded,  and  by  those  of  the  present  generation,  by 
whom  it  was  preserved  and  regenerated.  The  value  thus 
measured  is  beyond  all  estimation. 

It  is  greater  still  if  we  attempt  to  measure  it  by  the  sum 
of  happiness  and  prosperity,  which  those  institutions  pre- 
served, improved,  and  perfected,  are  competent  to  secure  to 
all  future  generations  that  worthily  maintain  them. 

The  material  growth  of  the  Hation  is  assured.  The  nat- 
ural conditions  of  wealth  and  progress  are  most  abundantly 
supplied.  There  is  nowhere  else  to  he  found  a combination 
of  climate,  soil,  mines,  and  natural  productions  so  profuse  in 
its  supply  of  every  material  of  human  industry  ; cheap  food, 
* cheap  clothing,  cheap  fuel,  cheap  iron — these  are  the  staples 
of  industrial  prosperity,  of  material  wealth.  It  will  take  but 
a few  years  to  restore,  all  the  pecuniary  losses  of  the  war; 
but  a few  years  to  relieve  labor  from  the  injurious  fluctuations 
of  an  inconvertible  currency,  and  the  onerous  and  unequal 
taxes,  which  were  its  seemingly  unavoidable  legacies.  Soon 
again  shall  we  hear  the  hum  of  industry,  various,  well  re- 
warded, and  universal,  arising  from  every  neighborhood,  in 
the  laud  ; internal  trade,  with  its  busy  shuttle,  will  weave  the 
warp  and  Avoof  of  domestic  peace,  from  side  to  side,  from  end 
to  end,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land ; and 
revived  commerce  on  every  sea  will  bear  to  and  fro  our  ex- 
changes of  mutual  profit  to  the  nearest  and  most  distant  na- 
tions and  people. . 

Wealth  will  accumulate  with  an  unprecedented  rapidity  ; 
but  the  rapidity  of  its  accumulation  will  be  rivaled  only  by 
the  breadth  of  its  diffusion.  If  we  continue  to  have  the  poor 
still  and  always  with  us,  it  will  be  only  that  they  may  be 
cared  for  by  a people  as  generous  as  they  will  be  rich. 
'Wealth  will  bring  leisure;  leisure,  study;  study,  knowledge, 


Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


culture,  and  refinement ; with,  them  will  come  science,  litera- 
ture, art. 

Will  this  towering  edifice  of  national  greatness  endure? 
Will  it  resist  the  canker  of  decay,  the  corroding  tooth  of 
time  ? On  one  condition — yes. 

Let  it  be  built  as  upon  a corner-stone,  upon  the  eternal 
adamant  and  foundation  of  justice , private  and  public,  equal 
and  exact,  without  respect  of  persons,  to  white  and  black,  to 
rich  and  poor,  to  learned  and  ignorant,  to  strong  and  weak, 
for  justice  and  judgment  are  the  eternal  habitations.  “ I will 
hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak , for  Re  will  speak  peace  unto 
His  people  and  to  His  saints ; bat  let  them  not  turn  again  to 
folly.  . . Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together ; righteousness  and 

peace  have  kissed  each  other.  Truth  shall  spring  out  of  the  earth; 
and  righteousness  shall  look  down  from  heaven.  Yea , the  Lord  • 
shall  give  that  which  is  good,  and  our  land  shall  yield  her  in- 


crease. 


J 


4 


